


A Cold Drink and a New Start

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Get Together, Joe and Nicky are there at the beginning, gibsons are the superior martini, martinis, then wander off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: Nile gets her first taste of being an immortal when not raiding massive pharmaceutical companies. It's like something out of a Bond film, drinks included.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Nile Freeman
Comments: 20
Kudos: 90





	A Cold Drink and a New Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [templemarker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/templemarker/gifts).



They go to Rome because it's the first train to show up. Andy, Joe, and Nicky all give Nile the chance to pick a destination, but she waves them off. She doesn't want to make any decisions she doesn't absolutely need to make right now. They sit across from each other--Andy and Nile on one side, Joe and Nicky on the other. Nile drifts in and out, the exhaustion from...everything...finally taking her down in the easy sway of the train. 

Every time she wakes up, Joe and Nicky are asleep, turned towards each other with their hands tangled. Andy sleeps upright with her head back, and Nile wonders if she and Booker used to use each other as pillows.

They get to Rome in the early morning, the sun just starting to brighten up the city. Nicky stretches, throws his arms wide and rattles off a string of Italian that makes Joe look very fond and Andy look annoyed. 

"What'd he say?" Nile asks Andy as Nicky grabs Joe's hand and pulls him in for a kiss that looks like it should be on the front of a romance novel. 

"I'm home where the coffee is beautiful, the leather is soft, and the men are nowhere near as handsome as my husband."

"The leather?" Nile asks as she follows Andy away from the train platform. 

Andy shakes her head. "Nicky has very strong opinions about Italian leather. It is an incredibly boring conversation."

"I can hear you," Nicky says as he comes up behind Nile and Andy, Joe pressed up close at his back. "It is not a boring conversation. It is a deeply important conversation about Italian history and artistic talent."

"Nicky, shut up," Joe murmurs to Nicky. "Let's go find you something to wear." 

Nicky laughs brightly and says a quick goodbye to Andy and Nile as Joe leads him away. Joe says goodbye over his shoulder without breaking stride. 

"Do you want to go with them?" Andy says. "We should get you some things for a go-bag, at least."

"I want coffee," Nile replies. "Then a long soak in a big tub if you know of a place."

"Oh, I always know of a place," Andy says. 

They get coffee at a little shop next to the station, and then Andy calls them a car. It takes them to a huge, old hotel, and a woman in a perfectly styled suit meets them at the front door and whisks them up to the twentieth floor in a private elevator. 

Andy speaks with the woman in Italian while Nile hangs back and looks at the fancy trim in the elevator and then the plush carpet of the hallway. She can't quite bite back her shock at the absolute opulence of the suite they walk into. 

"Shit," she mutters.

Andy snorts and pushes her between her shoulders, encouraging her to look around. There's a huge sitting room with a view of the city and a spiral staircase leading up to another floor, then a full kitchen and formal dining room through a set of French doors. There are three bedrooms, each with a full bath including a sunken soaking tub. Nile stares at the tub for a few seconds, then turns and walks back to the sitting room to take the stairs to the _second_ level of the suite. 

The upstairs is a giant game room with a pool table, three pinball machines, a ping pong set, a dartboard, and a wet bar that takes up an entire wall. On the balcony is a huge hot tub. 

"Shit," Nile says again because she doesn't really know what else to say. 

"I know it's ridiculous," Andy says as she walks up the stairs. "But we always try to stay somewhere nice after a job, and we haven't been here in awhile."

"How long is awhile?" Nile asks. She walks over to the bar and sets down her coffee so she can open cupboards. There's a huge amount of glassware, an ice machine, a large double sink, and more top shelf booze than she is sure she has ever seen in her life. 

"Ten years? Maybe twelve?" Andy guesses, sitting on a stool and watching Nile search. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Cocktail onions," Nile says. 

Andy leans over the counter and scans the shelves. "Onions, three o'clock," she says. 

Nile turns and follows her eye line, picking up the jar of onions. "My grandpa loves James Bond. He's read all the books. He's seen all the movies. He learned to make martinis just to be able to tell if James Bond had good taste in martinis."

"And?" Andy asks. 

Nile lays out the martini shaker and holds up two glasses. Andy nods, so she sets them side-by-side on the drink mat and scoops ice into both. "Grandpa decided Bond had a perfectly good martini, but he preferred a Gibson."

"Gin, dry Vermouth, cocktail onions," Andy recites. 

"Stirred," Nile adds. She only recognizes a few of the names on the liquor bottles. She looks over as Andy steps behind the counter. "I'm assuming all of this stuff is fancy, but I don't know what'll actually make a good Gibson."

"I'm on it," Andy says. "See if you can find a pitcher."

Nile opens the cupboards again. There's a tall, thin crystal pitcher with a matching stirrer. She places it on the bar next to the glasses and fills it with ice also. 

Andy mixes a double Gibson and passes the shaker to Nile. Nile dumps the ice from the glasses and pours them each a drink before opening the cocktail onions and skewering them on plastic toothpicks shaped like tiny swords. 

Nile unearths a large, copper bucket while Andy mixes a pitcher's worth of drinks. She puts a layer of ice on the bottom of the bucket, then sets it next to Andy. Andy flashes her a quick grin and thunks the pitcher into the bucket. 

"There's a phone by the hot tub," Nile says. "We could go full secret agent and call down to room service from there."

Andy chuckles and nods as she scoops ice into the bucket around the pitcher. "Love it."

Nile pauses as she reaches to pick up their drinks. "Um. I don't have a swim suit."

"Neither do I," Andy says. "We can shoot pool, and I can send our sizes to Joe and Nicky."

Nile considers that as she stirs her onions in her martini. "Are there super fluffy robes in the bedrooms?"

Andy grins. "Yeah."

"Have Joe or Nicky text when they're getting back here, and we can just slip them on when they get back. I don't have a problem being naked in a hot tub."

"Me, neither. Grab the robes. I'll text them."

Nile goes back down the stairs and goes to the front bedroom. There are two robes in the closet, so she grabs them both and goes back upstairs. Andy's got the balcony door open, the bucket with the pitcher under one arm. Nile pauses at the top of the stairs and watches her for a moment. She's been watching her since they met, but this is the first time she's had the chance to watch her without anyone else around. 

Andy sets the bucket by the hot tub and presses a few buttons on the side of the tub that makes the bubbles start to rise up. She pulls her shirt over her head, dropping it behind her without any concern.

Nile walks over to the bar and drapes the robes over two stools. She picks up their drinks and carries them outside, grinning when Andy looks up at her from where she's just slid into the water. "Freeman. Nile Freeman," she says, flashing Andy a faux-sultry look. "And who might you be?"

Andy cuts her an amused smile and holds out her hand in a haughty way to accept her drink. "Handy Tyme," she says. "I wasn't aware I would be sharing this suite."

"I have to say, it's already my favorite mistake a hotel has ever made," Nile replies. She drags her fingers against Andy's when she hands over her drink. "Mind holding onto mine while I...get comfortable?" 

Andy holds out her other hand and manages to take the glass with such a suggestive clasp of her fingers that Nile can't keep a straight face and giggles all the way through stripping out of her clothes. She sighs in pleasure as she slips into the water, careful to keep her braids over the edge so they don't get wet. 

Andy hands her drink back and holds up her own. "Welcome to the world, baby immortal," she says. "Sorry your first few days were such a fucking disaster."

Nile taps her glass to Andy's then sips her martini. She has to close her eyes at how good it is. "Oh my god, this drink might make up for all of it," she says. "I've never had a drink this good."

"We can set you up so you can have them this good all the time," Andy says. "As long as you can keep a generally low profile, you can spend your money how you like."

"What money?" Nile asks. "I mean, we didn't get paid for this last job, and I wasn't here for your others."

"Doesn't matter," Andy replies. "You didn't choose to be immortal, and we chose a long time ago to make sure we're all taken care of."

Nile wants to argue back, but she sips her drink instead. "How does it work? Is there a trust? A shared account?"

"We'll set up a trust." Andy pauses for a moment, staring into her drink. "Booker used to do the work on it, but Joe can get you set up just as easily."

Nile puts her drink to one side and lays her arms out along the side of the tub. "Can I ask questions about Booker?"

Andy twirls her onions in her drink. "Not today," she says. "But soon. Nicky's going to be the easiest to talk to."

"Well, I wasn't going to ask Joe," Nile replies. 

Andy smirks and downs the rest of her drink. "He will never cool down about it, but Nicky will rein him in if he gets too angry." She points to Nile's glass. "Catch up. I'll pour fresh ones if you want to order room service."

Nile slams the rest of her martini and passes her glass, then twists to reach for the phone. "What do they have here?" she asks. "What do you order to eat in a hot tub looking over Rome?"

"Charcuterie," Andy says. "Just say you want one of each board and tell them to bring it to the game room. They'll put it on the bar."

Nile presses the button for room service and repeats what Andy's said. When she hangs up, she turns back to Andy and catches her watching her, something soft in her eyes that reminds Nile that they're both naked under the water. 

"Your drink, Agent Freeman," Andy says, passing her her glass. 

The glass is shockingly cold against Nile's fingers, and she shivers as she takes the first sip. "I must say, Ms. Tyme, you really do know how to work with your hands."

Andy throws her head back and laughs, and Nile looks at the line of her throat and the way her bicep flexes as she holds her drink. "So," Nile says, feeling bold and adventurous with a fancy drink in her hand and the view of the city spread out in front of her like it's her right to enjoy it, "What type of a Bond girl are you? Are you here to provide me some necessary background information while looking flawless or are you here to get information from me using whatever means necessary?"

Andy gives Nile another considering look, then slips smoothly across the hot tub until she and Nile are almost nose-to-nose. "Which would you prefer?" she asks, taking a sip of her drink without breaking eye contact. 

"I think I'd really prefer the second," Nile says and leans forward, tasting the sharp coolness of the martini on Andy's lips as they kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> My first Old Guard fic but my 600th fic to be posted on AO3. I let the amazing templemarker pick the story for the milestone because what's the fun of hitting a milestone if your bestie can't enjoy it with you?
> 
> Thank you to M for yet another beta!


End file.
